The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, hasinaugurated the Implementation Committee for the Post Covid-19Initiatives on the Creative Industry, with a charge to the committeeto design an implementation plan that will catalyze the growth of theindustry.
While performing the inauguration virtually in his office in Abuja onTuesday, the Minister listed the Terms of Reference for the committeeas including the design of an implementation plan on the immediate andshort-term relief for the Creative Industry, in the wake of theCovid-19 pandemic.
Others, he said, are to design a Policy Framework for Tax Relief forthe various sectors in the Creative Industry, if it is identified asone of the measures aimed at achieving immediate and short-term relieffor the Industry; and to work out a detailed implementation plan for along-term intervention for the overall development of the Creativeindustry in Nigeria.
Alhaji Mohammed, who described the Creative Industry as the secondbiggest job creator in the country after agriculture, urged members ofthe Implementation Committee to approach its assignment with a greatsense of duty, as the development and growth of the Creative Industryare crucial to the nation’s economy.
He once again commended the Committee on Post Covid-19 Initiatives onthe Creative Industry for producing a ‘phenomenal’ report, noting thatthe committee went beyond the call of duty to produce a well-researched report.
In his remarks, Otunba Segun Runsewe, the Chairman of theImplementation Committee and the Director General of the NationalCouncil for Arts and Culture, pledged his committee’s readiness tocome up with robust recommendations for the overall benefit of theCreative Industry and the nation in general.
Otunba Runsewe, who commended the Minister’s foresight on theinitiative, said Nigeria has taken the lead in the West Africansub-region in thinking out of the box to address the challengesfoisted on the Creative Industry by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The committee, which has six weeks to submit its report, alsocomprises Ali Baba (Deputy Chairman); Anita Eboigbe; Baba Agba and JoeMutah (Secretary).
